The ongoing playtest of Bodil’s Gap continues! In part one, the Laxbrynjung clansmen buried their murdered Þejn, Arnolf, and discovered that his brother, Trond, had claimed the Þejn’s office instead of allowing it to pass to Arnolf’s son Rurik. Not only that, but Trond claimed the bequests left to each of them as his own. The game picks up in the aftermath of that pronouncement.
The Cast
Ingvild Scoreslayer, Dýrsark - Ingvild is an old and bitter warrior connected to the Laxbrynjung clan by marriage: his sister, long since deceased, was the first wife of the clan's Þejn, Arnolf, and Arnolf's eldest children and heirs are Ingvild's niece and nephew. Cunning but prone to the rage of a berserker, Ingvild is a veteran warrior and close advisor to the clan's leadership.
Mundr Ivaldisson, Óttimaðr - Mundr is a Laxbrynjung by birth, the only child of Ivaldi, the youngest of Arnolf's brothers. The death of Ivaldi when Mundr was still a child have made Ingvild and Arnolf Mundr's only father-figures, however. A promising but untested young man, Mundr has spent much of his youth away from the family holdings helping out in the surrounding settlements, and has only returned home recently in the wake of a mysterious incident in which the barrier between the Mortal World and the Primordial Realm of Fire was torn open, exposing Mundr to the stuff of other worlds and endowing him with the strength of giants.
Ylva, Seiðkona - Though dwelling apart from the clan in the woods, Ylva is an ally of the Laxbrynjungs, serving as a close friend and confidant of Arnolf's eldest son, Steinar. Ylva is a sorceress endowed with the power to see and speak with spirits, and uses her magic to soothe the difficulties of her allies in the clan, despite frequent clashes with those who see her magic as wicked or unnatural.
The Game
Trond’s announcement on the barrowtop leaves the party angry and confused. Ingvild was promised a talisman of Arnolf’s as memento of his friend and brother-in-law, and Ylva was promised a silver circlet, both of which have now gone into Trond’s own hoard. Worse off is Mundr, who was promised one of Arnolf’s ships, the famously swift Vágarhlaupna, which has now been given to Trond’s sons, Gunnar and Finnar. Neither Ingvild nor Ylva is subtle about how little they care for this decision. Ingvild vocally questions Trond’s judgement, but Trond maintains the properness of his decision based on the legal status of Arnolf’s union with Rurik’s mother. Ingvild storms off in a fury to speak to the woman herself, trying to find some answers. Ylva takes things even worse and immediately brings her seiðr to bear on Trond, cursing him in front of the whole clan with the following malediction: Cursed be you, to have all your ambitions to turn to dust. Cursed be you, to have you sons slain by their own men. Cursed be you, to have your seed turn to water. Cursed, cursed, cursed! Then she turns into a raven and flies off to plot further—only to discover that her magic has drawn too heavily on her, and that her hands have remained scaly, bird-like talons even after turning back to human form. Meanwhile, Ingvild speaks to Rurik’s mother, Kara, and learns that her matrimonial status is something of a grey area: when Arnolf was still married to Ingvild’s sister, Kara was still a slave of the household, captured on a raid by Arnolf’s father when Arnolf and Kara were both children. They became close as they grew up together, and after the death of his first wife it was in Kara’s arms that he found solace. Twenty years and two children later, Kara had fully assumed the role of wife and partner, but because of her origins had never brought a dowry from the household of her parents nor sat at a marriage feast at her mother’s table on her wedding night. As such, though Trond’s pronouncement is cruel, it isn’t without legal merit, and overturning it might require debate at the local þing—which won’t take place until after the retaliatory raid against Arnolf’s killers. And at that point, it may be too late to contest; if Trond can win the acclaim of the clan through his leadership during the raid, who will be left to support the party’s challenge when the þing arrives? Meanwhile, Mundr decides to take a much more subtle tack. Approaching his uncle Trond as a loyal nephew, Mundr convinces the new Þejn that he supports Trond’s cause, and through a passionate request—reinforced by the primordial flames of Mundr’s link to the Realm of Fire bolstering his force of personality—Mundr is able to persuade Trond to grant him Gunnar and Finnar’s old ship, which will allow Mundr to go on the raid being planned, and potentially support Rurik in enough heroics to win him a reputation to rival Trond’s. Trond is not entirely convinced of Mundr’s loyalty, however, nor of his ability as a sailor, so he proposes an errand on which Mundr can prove himself and learn the ropes of captaincy: to sail two days away to Askarfjord, where the kinsfolk of Trond’s wife dwell. Allies of the Laxbrynjungs and dwellers in the region over which Arnolf was Þejn, they too should be called to battle against Arnolf’s murderer, Kettil Sea-Strider, and his forces. And with seven days between now and the launch of the raid, that should be ample time for Mundr to fetch them and return. Of course, Trond's deeper intention is not lost on Mundr: as his own in-laws, the Askarfjorders are as much Trond’s personal allies as they are allies of the clan as a whole. Struggling with the idea of preparing for the raid but strengthening Trond’s position, that night Mundr confers with his allies—who cannot travel openly with Trond’s men, who still crew Mundr’s new ship. Ylva resolves to travel to Askarfjord on her own, and transforms once again into a dolphin, preparing to swim all the way and meet the other PCs there. Ingvild opts for the more direct approach and simply stows away, preparing to reveal himself on the ship’s arrival in Askarfjord. On route, however, Mundr steers the ship perhaps a little too close to the coast, and the crew is surprised when a cliff crake plunges down from above, missing its dive into a school of fish to smash into their deck. Mundr and the crew quickly drive it overboard, but not before it takes a bite out of one of the men. Mundr can tell that his leadership has not so far inspired much confidence from his crew. Arriving in Askarfjord, party discovers that things will not be so simple as fetching Trond’s in-laws and turning around; though they are welcomed by the chieftain of Askarfjord, a veteran shield-maiden named Skadi Battle-Brand, it turns out that Skadi’s warship has been wrecked in an encounter with a swarm of monstrous crabs that have taken up residence off the coast of the fjord. A new one is under construction, but cannot possibly be finished in time for the raid unless the sail of the old ship is recovered, since a single sail represents a whole winter's worth of textile production. Her carpenter also asks that the old figurehead be brought back if possible, claiming it was blessed with good luck.
The second session ended with the party preparing to sail to the crabs’ nest, a half-submerged warren built of wrecked ships and waterlogged trees uprooted from the shore—and preparing for the first time to go into battle with the inhuman spawn of the ancient giants.
Behind the Scenes
In general I’m very pleased with how the game went in this session. The tension between the need to unite for the coming raid versus the desire to oppose Trond has put the party in an interesting position, and playing that tension out has been very rewarding so far. This session also saw the debut of Bodil’s Gap’s sailing mechanics, which have continued to plague the party ever since. The ocean is a dangerous place, and because of their poor luck they have yet to take a trip that doesn’t include an encounter with some kind of dangerous creature out on the water.
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